As another review has stated, this is slightly better than the volume before this one, as it has a continuous story arc and isn't loosely connected stories. I did appreciate that.

I also loved that Ed and Al were seeking out a bookstore and that they stayed and went through all of the books. Siiiiigh...books... They even took a train to get to the town the store was in and it brought me back to when I took a train on one of my most recent forays on a "Book Trail" with a friend.

For me, this was good for about the first two thirds or so and then it fell apart towards the end. I didn't quite buy the reason why certain characters acted the way that they did and the end monster was just...kind of weird.

I haven't watched the anime or read the manga in a LOOOOONG time, so I am sure I am missing lots of connections to prior parts of the story, so I wouldn't recommend jumping into this completely blind, but it's not so complicated that it can't be followed with a basic idea of the story.

I felt that Ed and Al were characterized properly and the storyline in this wasn't half bad, but that ending, OOF.

Not bad, not a waste of time to read and definitely something I would recommend to those who like the series or who want to try something slightly different.

3, middle of the road I need to re-watch the series so I catch more, stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and VIZ Media LLC for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.